Display and delivery device



June 22, 1948. P, SHIELD 2,443,871

DISPLAY AND DELIVERY mmcn Filed June 15, 1945 2 Sheets-sheaf. 1

INVENTOR. lA/VS/A/G P. .Sf/IELD ATTORNEY June 22, 1948. L. P. SHIELD 1DISPLAY, AND DELIVERY DEVICE Filed June 15, 1945 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 JNVN TOR. LAMS/N6 f- 5/7/62 0 ,4 TTOR/VE Y Patented June 22, 1948 DISPLAYAND DELIVERY DEVICE Lansing P. Shield, Ridgewood, N. J., assignor to TheGrand Union Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of DelawareApplication June 15, 1945, Serial No. 599,703

5 Claims.

l My invention .relates to display and delivery means for self-servicestores and particularly to constructions whereby a wide variety ofarticles may be presented in an attractive and convenient manner andcontinuously maintained available to the customers with a materialsaving in time and labor on the part of both the clerks and thecustomers.

It is usual in self-service stores to provide a series of stands orshelves arranged to form aisles along which the customers pass to helpthemselves to the articles they wish to purchase. However, in order toreplenish the shelves with goods the clerks also have to pass up anddown the aisles with cartons or trucks, stacking and arranging the stockto replenish the goods purchased. The busier the store the morefrequently the stock has to be replenished and as a result the clerksoften block the aisles and the customers interfere with the clerks andmay be injured in stepping around or over obstructions in the aisles.The aisles also tend to become littered with paper or wrappings from thearticles taken from the packages or cartons in arranging the goods andthe store soon presents a dirty and unattractive appearance.

A further and important objection to present constructions andarrangements of shelves and display means used in self-service storesresides in the limited number and variety of articles which may bepresented in a given space. Thus, for example, the space necessary topresent three or four varieties of one commodity in sufficient numbersto meet the demands of the trade may require one whole section ofshelving. n the other hand, if an effort is made to save space andpresent a greater variety of articles on the shelves by placing only afew cans or packages of each brand on the shelves, the clerks have toreplenish the shelves more often and the interference and annoyance tothe customers is increased.

I have discovered that these and numerous other objections andlimitations in constructions heretofore employed in self-service storescan be overcome by providing a novel type and arrangement of shelves andstands which serve to deliver articles automatically into position forconvenient removal by the customers. With this construction only onepackage or container need be presented to the customer at a time,whereas others will be supplied as needed. A great variety of articlesand numerous brands of the same articles can be presented in a limtedspace for-ease in selection and handling. At the same time the articlesare replenished by clerks on the opposite 2 side of the shelves or standand they too can handle the goods more readily without waste of time andwithout interference with the customers.

In accordance with my invention these results' are preferably attainedby employing stands upon which shelves are arranged in inclined(positions with the lower front edges of the shelves terminating in anoutwardly and downwardly inclined display of articles which areconveniently accessible to the customers and with the upper rear edgesof the shelves conveniently accessible at the rear of the stand forcharging the shelves with articles so that they will move by gravity tothe lower front edges of the shelves. By arranging the shelves so thatthey extend progressively farther outward from the top toward the bottomof the stand, the articles may be lifted upward so that they can beremoved from the shelves without difliculty and each article isprominently and separately displayed to the customers. Moreover, none ofthe papers or wrappings from the cartons and packages are dropped in theaisles and therefore the whole store presents a neat, clean andattractive appearance and the customers are not inconvenienced by themovement of the clerks through the aisles.

One of the objects of my invention is to reduce the time and labornecessary to maintain a supply of goods available to customers inself-service stores.

Another object of my invention is to provide improved means for thedisplay and handling of articles in self-service stores.

Afurther object of the invention is to provide stands and shelves forself-service stores whereby a greater varietyof articles may be madeavailable to the customers within a. limited space.

Another object of my invention is to provide constructions wherebyself-service stores may be maintained in a neat, clean and attractivecondition and interference with customers is reduced to a minimum.

These and other objects and features of my invention will appear fromthe following descriptions thereof in which reference is made to thefigures of the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective of a portion of a typical display and deliverydevice embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the construction illustrated inFIG. 1. i

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view 3 through one shelf ofthe-construction illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a perspective of a portion of an alternative constructionwhich may be embodied in the display and delivery device of Fig. l, and

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic side elevation of an alternative form of shelfconstruction.

In that form of my invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4 the stand 2embodies a plurality of shelves 4 which are supported by a framework 6and held in inclined positions at an angle of about 6. The lower ends ofthe shelves are accessible from the front of the stand and are steppedback from one another in passing from the lowermost shelf 8 to theuppermost shelf l0, so that the shelves combine to present an arcuate,or sloping front to the construction and provide an attractive forwardlyand downwardly sloping display of articles.

Each shelf, or each section of a shelf, is supplied with a single typeand brand of article and the articles move forward by gravity along thesloping shelves from the rear to the front of the stand. The front endof each shelf is provided with upwardly projecting stop means l2 whichserve to hold the series of containers on the shelf,

but as soon as the foremost container is removed,

the others move forward by gravity to present another identical articleto the customer. In this way the display of articles and the supplythereof are maintained continuously and automatically as long as theshelf is charged with containers.

The upper rear ends I4 of the shelves are accessible from the rear ofthe stand for charging articles onto the shelves and the stand itself isspaced from complementary shelving or other storage means l6 which maybe located adjacent a wall of the store building. With this constructionan aisle I8 is formed between the storage means and the stand 2 so thatclerks may pass back and forth with trucks or cartons and may chargearticles into the rear ends of the shelves without interference with thecustomers. By arranging cartons or cases of articles on the storageshelving i6 opposite those shelves in the stand 2 which are to becharged with those articles much time can be saved in keeping theshelves supplied with articles.

A wheeled support 20 is generally used by the clerks in loading thearticles onto the shelves since it is then possible to transfer a cartonfrom the storage means to the support and to transfer the articlesdirectly from the carton to the shelves with a minimum of movement andloss of time. When the shelf being charged is filled with articles thecarton can be returned to the storage means l6 and the support moved toa new position so that another carton can be placed on the support forcharging another shelf.

The rear end of each shelf preferably is formed with an upwardly turnedportion 22 which serves to hold the rearmost container on the shelf andprevents it from being brushed off as the clerks move about or pass eachother in the aisle 18. This arrangement of the stand and. storage meansserves to confine the movements of the clerks and trucks to areas whichare not used by the customers so that there is no confusion orinterference between the clerks and customers and dange'r of injury tocustomers in stepping around store so that it is much easier to maintainthe store in a clean, tidy and attractive condition.

The construction and arrangement of the shelves and framework are, ofcourse, capable of many variations. In that form of my inventionillustrated the framework indicated generally at 6 embodies verticalsupports 24 and 26 to which rectangular frames 28 are secured by meansof bolts 30. The frames 28 are formed of angle iron and present inwardlyfacing flanges 32. The frames vary in size so as to extend fromthevertical element 24 at the rear of the stand to the vertical element 26at the front of the stand in the upper shelves whereas the frames 28 inthe lower portion of the stand extend forward beyond the verticalelement 26 to the inclined element 34 which is supported by a verticalleg 36. In this way the frames 28 provide for each shelf a strongsupport. The frames 28 are mounted on the vertical supports in thedesired inclined positions and although the frames are of equal width inthe construction shown in Fig. l, certain vertically arranged groups offrames may be wider or narrower than other vertically arranged groups offrames to form sections or banks of shelves of any desired width.

The shelves themselves, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, consist of tracks 38and 40 formed of angle members which face toward each other and arespaced apart distances corresponding to the lengths of the containersthey are to receive. The tracks are held in place on the frames 28 byretaining means which, as shown in Fig. 4, consist of pins 42 which arecarried by the tracks 38 and 48 and extend downward therefrom throughopenings 44 in the flanges 32 of the frames 28. The frames 28 maybeprovided with any desired number of openings 44 to permit the tracks 38and 40 to be moved or adjusted in position to receive and support cans,bottles or packages of any desired length.

As shown in Fig. 5 the shelf may include a sheet of plywood or othermaterial 46 supported on the rails 38 and 40 if it is desired to closeor cover the space between the rails. As further shown in Fig.

. 5 the sheet 46 is formed with a cut out or hand opening 48 in thelower front edge thereof so that articles may be easily grasped toremove them from the shelf. When only the spaced rails are used as shownin Fig. 4, the articles are similarly free to be-grasped readily so thatthey are available for easy removal from the shelves of the stand.Furthermore, the stepped arrangement of the front ends of the shelvesrenders it possible to lift the articles from the shelves easily andwithout interference from the shelf above.

The lower front ends of the rails 38 and 40 are preferably turned upwardas shown most clearly in Figs. 3 and 5 to form the stops l2 for holdingarticles in position on the shelves. The stops i2 also serve as supportholders 50 for receiving tags, cards, signs or similar means forindicating the prices and the numbers and kinds of ration pointsrequired for the articles or for giving other information regarding thearticles supplied to that shelf. The upwardly turned portions 22 at theupper rear ends of the shelves also may be provided with holders 52 forreceiving. cards or tags to indicate to the clerks the kind and brand ofarticles which the shelf contains. In this way the clerks can be sure tocharge the articles onto the right shelves to maintain a continuoussupply of the same article available to the customers.

In using the stand described the customers may remove articles from theshelves for inspectibn or may decide that they do not wish to purchasean article after it has been removed from the shelf. Since the spaceoccupied by an article which has been removed is immediately taken up byother articles moving forward on the inclined shelf it is desirable toprovide means for receiving undesired articles so that they can bereturned to the clerks for redistribution to the proper shelves. In theconstruction illustrated the article receiving means serves to returnthe undesired articles automatically to the rear of the stand so thatthe clerks do not have to go around to the front of the stand to collectthe returned goods. As shown, the base 54 of the stand is formed withopenings 58 below the lowermost shelf 8 so that the customers can placethe unwanted articles in the openings and on an inclined surface 58which serves to cause the articles thus returned to move by gravity tothe rear of the stand where they are accessible to the clerks in theaisle l8. The clerks can then sort out the accumulation of returnedarticles and restore them to the proper shelves or to the stock of goodsmaintained on the shelving l6. These return channels may of course belocated at any convenient points or places'in the construction, and thespace between the return channels and below the lowermost shelf 8 can beused for the storage of additional goods.

In employing the present invention in selfservice stores for groceriesor other commodities the stock to be handled usually includes cans,bottles, jars, packages or other containers or articles of various sizesand shapes. Those containers and articles which are cylindrical inshape,

such as cans and most bottles and jars, will roll easily andin astraight line along the inclined shelves. Similarly, spherical articlessuch as apples, oranges, grapefruit and the like may be charged onto theshelves and automatically delivered thereby.

However, my invention is by no means limited to the handling ofcylindrical or spherical con tainers and objects. Thus as shown in Fig.4 a filler or guide strip 6|! may be located adjacent one or both of thetracks 38 and 40 or on other shelving used to support and guide tapered,conical or other irregularly shaped containers which are circular incross section. In actual practice it is found that such filler stripsserve to overcome the tendency of tapered containers to travel or rollin an arcuate path and-as a result they can be handled just aseffectively as cans or articles of a strictly cylindrical shape. Asshown in Fig. 3, extra stop means 62 may be located adjacent the stops1! when necessary to hold the lowermost tapered or irregularly shapedcontainers in the desired positions on the shelves.

It is also possible to deliver other articles or packages of irregularshape in constructions embodying my invention. Thus, as shown in Fig. 6,shelving may be provided which has at least a portion thereof located ata relatively steep angle as indicated by the shelf 64. The lower frontedge of the shelf preferably has a portion 66 which is inclined at asmaller angle so as to break the fall or movement of the articlescharged onto the shelf and to take at least part of the weight from theforemost article so that it can be easily removed from the shelf by thecustomer. The weight of the following articles will then force the nextarticle forward into position adjacent the stop means l2 just as in thecase of cylindrical or spherical objects.

In this way bags of flour, salt, sugar and packages of potatoes or thelike can be handled by means of the present invention and boxes of tea.sugar, cereals or soap flakes. as well as cakes of soap and otherarticles, can be presented continuously and automatically for purchaseby customers in front of the stand. Moreover, when handling sucharticles the containers or packages can be arranged on the shelves bythe clerks in position to cause the front, trade-mark or other portionof the package to be displayed prominently and in a predeterminedposition when delivered to the lower end of the shelf.

Experience with equipment of the type illustrated and described hasdemonstrated numerous other advantages of very practical value. Theclerks and customers do not have to travel so far to fill their ordersand replenish the stock so that both the customers and the clerks save agreat deal of time and up to of the travel which is usually necessary inself-service stores. The customers are also assured of receiving freshstock since the new supply is not placed in front of or does not coverup the remnants of a preceding supply so that no goods are left on theshelves for long periods of time.

It is also found that constructions embodying my invention render itmuch easier to take inventory and keep track of the stock on hand. Thisresults from the fact that the number and kind of articles carried byeach pair of tracks on the stand when fully stocked .is fixed or can be,readily determined and will not vary as lon as the arrangement of thearticles on the stand remains the same. Then it is only necessary totake an accounting of the stock remaining onthe shelving i6 and to addthat to the known quantities of the fully charged stand.

These and other advantages are attained when using display and deliverydevices embodying my invention although the form, arrangement andconstructions of the equipment may be -varied considerably. In viewthereof it should be understood that the embodiments of my inventionshown in the drawings and described above are intended to beillustrative only and are not intended to limit the scope of thefollowing claims.

I claim:

1. Merchandise, display and delivery means for self-service storescomprising a stand having a plurality of vertically extending supports,a pinrality of inclined shelves arranged one above the other andinclined from the rear toward the front of the stand, the upper ends ofthe inclined shelves being in substantial alignment and accessible atthe rear of the stand for charging articles onto the shelves, the lowerends of said shelves projecting progressively farther forward from theupper to the lower portion of the stand and having means at the lowerfront end of each shelf for holding articles in place on the shelf topresent an inclined display of articles at the front of the stand inposition to be raised from the shelves by customers, a rigid rectangularframe for each shelf secured to said supports and presentinghorizontally extending opposite end portions adjacent the opposite endsof said shelves, and means on said shelves releasably engaging saidportions for holding the shelves in place.

2. Merchandise display and delivery means comprising a stand havingvertically extending supports, rectangular frames secured in inclinedpositions to said supports and having opposite horizontally extendingportions, a plurality of inclinedpairs of tracks positioned to supportarticles to be displayed and delivered, said tracks being supportedadjacent the opposite ends thereof by the horizontally extendingportions of said rectangular frames, and means for releasably holdingsaid tracks in position on said frames, the tracks combining to formchannels which are accessible at the rear of the stand for receivingarticles and accessible at the front of the stand for the removal ofarticles.

3. Merchandise display and delivery means comprising a stand havingupwardly extending supports, rectangular frames secured in inclinedpositions to said supports, a plurality of inclined pairs of tracks onsaid frames positioned to support the opposite ends of articles to bedisplayed and delivered, and means for releasably holding said tracks inposition on said frames, the tracks combining to form channels which areaccessible at the rear of the stand for receiving articles andaccessible at the front of the stand for the delivery of articles,certain of said tracks having means thereon for supporting and guidingthe smaller ends of articles which are of different sizes at theopposite ends thereof.

4. Merchandise display and delivery means for self service storescomprising a stand having two ipwardly extending supports at the rearthereof and two upwardly extending supports near the front of the stand,a plurality of rigid rectangular frames connected to said front and rearsupports and arranged in vertically spaced relation and in inclinedpositions with respect to said supports, shelves in the form of pairs ofspaced tracks ar; ranged in parallel relation and adapted to receive andguide articles of predetermined sizes, said tracks being adjustablysecured to opposite portions of said frames by interengaging means onsaid tracks and frames formed to permit movement of said tracks todifferent positions to receive and guide different sizes of articles,said tracks extending in downwardly inclined positions from the reartoward the front of the stand so as to cause articles placed thereon tomove forward by gravity toward the lower front ends of said shelves, andan abutment member at the lower ends of said tracks for retainingarticles in place on said tracks, the frames and tracks in the lowerportion of the stand being longer and projecting outward below theframes and tracks in the upper portion of the stand to present articlesin position to be raised vertically from the tracks.

' nels for maintaining articles in alignment during movement thereoffrom the rear to the front of said sh'elf forming means, said shelfforming means being adjustably secured to said frames by interengagingparts movable to hold said article guiding elements in variouspredetermined positions with respect to each other to guide articles ofpredetermined sizes, said channels being accessible at the rear of saidstand for receiving articles and accessible at the front of said standfor the removal of articles from said channels, the front ends of saidchannels extending progressively farther forward from the upper to thelower portion of the stand and means engageable by the foremost articlein each channel for holding articles in place in said channels.

LANSING P. SHIELD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 520,098 Warner May 22, 1894774,291 Thorpe Nov. 8, 1904 1,291,420 Cough Jan. 14, 1919 1,317,534Williams Sept. 30, 1919 1,383,570 Schnell July 5, 1921 1,524,748O'Connor Feb, 3, 1925 1,745,784 Davis Feb. 4, 1930 1,876,172 Ruddy Sept.6, 1932 1,911,368 Kress May 30, 1933 2,160,102 Hull May 30, 19392,176,384 Vamey Oct. 17, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date481,026 Great Britain Mar. 3, 1938

